


Juno Steel and the Surpising Bonding with Vespa Ilkay

by CertifiedPissWizard



Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Gen, because i say they should be, cw paranoid delusions, did i mention i simp for both of these ladies, i'm able to multitask, in which the author projects onto juno, juno and vespa are friends now, literally this is just projection and simping for vespa, mentions of juno's hella trauma, oh hey also, semiverbal juno rights!, weird formatting from me mayhaps
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:28:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27351985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CertifiedPissWizard/pseuds/CertifiedPissWizard
Summary: Juno and Vespa are paranoia buddies that's it thats the fic that is all they are friends and make the other feel safe and will attack anyone who suggests this to them
Comments: 2
Kudos: 53





	Juno Steel and the Surpising Bonding with Vespa Ilkay

Here’s the thing. There comes a point where you’ve had to keep watch and be careful too long and it starts fucking with you. Here’s the thing. Juno’s had relationships destroyed from his trust issues. Here’s the thing. He has so many reasons for them- sarah his exes the hcpd him just being him- 

Here’s the thing. He’s on the Carte Blanche. He’s safe. The THEIA is gone and not watching all the damn time. Nobody is watching waiting for him to fuck up to have a reason to- He’s safe. Juno Steel is safe and is curled up under his blankets because there are cameras everywhere and his comms can- and these are just paranoid delusions caused by almost constant stress and having to be careful and that constant state of needing to not be watched to be safe- it fucks with you is the point. So Juno is curled under his blankets and his comms are across the room maybe broken but he isn’t going to check because there aren’t cameras under the blankets and the door is locked and he can’t leave or something bad will happen and he doesn’t know what and-

He was getting better so of course he’d have a stray thought that morning that would trigger this. And he can’t breathe. And he can’t leave his room. And he can’t breathe. And someone is knocking at the door and he can’t speak- he tried to give himself a quiet pep talk earlier about how he can just power through. He couldn’t make a word leave his mouth- just that horrific keening noise like a hurt animal. “Steel.” Vespa. He stays curled up under the blankets and doesn’t move. Who cares that he’s probably missed breakfast or a family meeting or- He was fine and then he triggered himself. “You’re missing the family meeting, Steel.” He doesn’t move.

He shows up to dinner. His comms aren’t broken. He’s calm, and he knows there aren’t cameras everywhere. Rita squeezes his arm. She always knows- has known for so long that he gets like that sometimes. He nods. Vespa looks at him. Buddy looks at him. Jet looks at him. He doesn’t look at any of them, just looks at the plate and eats. He’s tired. He’s so tired. Rita decides to throw an impromptu ladies night, pulls up his favorite stream, makes a goddamn pillow fort and makes Buddy and Vespa guess the password. He tries not to laugh and fails. 

Vespa figures it out at some point, he’s pretty sure. She drags him off when he starts getting like that, throws some silly putty at him, tells him to calm the fuck down. He huffs. It makes some sense she’d be good at telling like that- he’s seen her do the same thing- take off and hide, panic in her eyes. He doesn’t push. He and Vespa have an arrangement. They don’t ask each other questions. They don’t push. When one of them starts getting like that the other makes a distraction if needed. 

Here’s the thing. When he gets like that there are a handful of people he trusts- that he’s okay with being around- with asking for reality checks. At some point it goes from just Rita to Rita and Vespa, and he isn’t sure when, but he doesn’t really question it. He isn’t like it often, of course, maybe once a week at most- he’s ignoring the month straight after they stole the globe where he kept feeling watched and like everyone hated him and wanted him de- not going there. Peak way to trigger it right there. The point is Vespa somehow hits that button in his brain that says safe. He doesn’t push when she shows up in his room one night when Buddy is on planet. Part of it is she threatens him with a knife, and part of it is that pushing isn’t the best thing to do.  
The radiation, she says. All the bullshit, he says. 

It’s quiet. They don’t talk anymore, except for when Vespa says anything like a question towards him. 

Buddy says it’s good they’re getting along. They both start protesting. 

Here’s the thing. Getting better and healing isn’t something with an end point it’s not a race to be won it’s a goddamn process that isn’t linear and is bullshit. Sometimes you can’t either and that’s okay too. Juno knows that. He’s been fucking aware of that each time he mustered up the will to try. He’s safe though- safe spot and safe people- and that definitely makes things a little bit easier. 

He triggers himself. It isn’t as bad as it used to be, and that’s what matters. 

What matters is this. Vespa throws a egg of silly putty at him and tells him to calm the fuck down and there aren’t any cameras. He reminds her that a) nobody on the ship wants to kill her and b) even if they did she could probably kill them first. 

What matters is this. They’re going to steal the cure mother prime and it won’t fix things, but it’ll make things easier for Vespa and Buddy. That’s what matters. Juno breathes, stretching and flattening and making worms out of silly putty and breathes. Things are going to get better, at least a little. That’s what matters.

**Author's Note:**

> Nobody:  
> Me: Vespa and Juno are both paranoia buddies and yeet silly putty and coloring books and distraction methods at each other. One of them definitely hit the other's face with one of the coloring books of space disney princesses in the past.
> 
> oh and like. a friendly reminder. like. this isn't supposed to be an awww adorable they're friends fic. this is a these are both mentally ill people who are friends helping each other cope because they understand. there are parts of this based off of my own experiences and I'd like that to be noted and not made light of in any comments. I get that I personally played it off in the summary, but that doesn't change the fact that this is me projecting my issues with paranoid delusions onto juno.


End file.
